[dljordan]

Yeah, they're transferring such low skilled jobs as Computer Operator, Systems Programmer, Storage Management Technicians, Database Administrators, etc. Their management goal is to cut employees by ten percent per year. I wonder what they'll do when they get to zero. It ain't the management that runs things at IBM it's the workers that make the wheels go round. They have very hard working, loyal and competent employees that are being betrayed. I watched them outsource one of their computer operations to Brazil and it's a disaster but the management won't admit they're wrong. So it goes. Some people just aren't interchangeable.

[speekinout]

IBM's business model has changed dramatically in the last few years (starting almost 10 years ago, I think). They're much more systems integrators than producers of anything. To oversimplify, they design solutions, invent the missing pieces, and put it all together with pieces manufactured elsewhere.

The parts of programming that are just code development (and that's a lot) are not worth the cost to do it in-house.

I would hope that IBM would offer re-training opportunities to the employees, but I can certainly see why certain skills are no longer worth much to the company.